Improvement in cotton-seed planter



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W. F. TUNNARD, OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, LOUISIANA, 'ASSIGNOR TO FRED.D. TUNNARD, OFSAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 94,671, dated September 7, 1869.

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IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON-SEED PLANTER.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Ptent and making part cf thesame.

To all whom zt may concern.:

Be itknown that I, W. F. TUNNARD, ofthe parish of East Baton Rouge,State of Louisiana,'have in'-` vented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Cotton-Seed Planters; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same,reference being had to the annexed drawing, making a part of thisspecication, in which- Figure 1 is a sideeelevation of a machine inwhich my improvement has been incorporated;

Figure 2, a sectional view of the same machine, the bisectiou beingonthe line a b of fig. 3; and

Figure 3, a plan or top View of the same machine.

My invention is an. improvement on C. W. Mc- Olanahans combined cottonand seed-planter, as patented by him, November 27, 1860, by which,dispensing with some ofthe parts employed in said machine, thealteration of others, and the substitution of ,new for some of the partsemployed in the said machine, as patented, I produce a machine that isadapted exclusively to the planting of cotton-seed, far more effectivein its practical operation and use, less liable to get out of order,andwhich can be manufactured at greatly-reduced cost, as compared withMcGlanahaus machine.

But my invention will be better understood by referring to the drawing,on which the same letters denote the same parts at all the figures.

On the drawing- A represents the hopper-formed recipient, from which theseed is planted, and which is secured on the frame of the machine,substantially as shown, by any proper means.

The sides of hopper A extend a few inches below its bottom, and thusprovide a means for supporting, in any proper manner, a shaft, 1, onwhich ismounted two ratchet-wheels, in such manner' that most of thatpart of them which is above the axle enters into the hopper, or moreproperly project above its bottom, through two narrow elongatedopenings, a, as shown The teeth on these ratchetavheels, which aremarked B B on the drawing, constitute the mechanical agents devised byme, for discharging the seed from the hop' per A, in lieu of thecylinder, with projecting blades, that is, described in McGlana-hanspatent, and I have found them far more efficient, in practice, than saidcylinder, in everyrespect whatsoever. v The superiority of myratchet-wheels results, in part, from the curved formation of theratchet-projections or teeth 2, around their perimeters, and, in part,from their greatly-reduced width of face, as compared with McGlanahanscylinder. 3

In order to regulate and control the quantity of seed that is dischargedfrom thev hopper, Iprovide one of the ratchet-wheels B with a removableand adjust able cap or cover, and am thus enabled to discharge a greateror smaller quantity of seed through the opening in which that wheelworks', or to confine the discharge exclusively to the other wheel, bycovering the whole of the said opening with said cap. This cover couldnot be conveniently shown on the drawing, and is, therefore, notdelineated on the same.

VThe above constitutes one of the features of myimprovement.

Above the bottom of the hopper, on a shaft, 3, supported also in thesides of the hopper, are secured radiatingA curved arms, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,'9, for stirring or agitating the cotton-seed, and thusfpreventing itfrom packing or bridging, as it is called, above the discharging-wheels.B, and so stopping the operation ofthe machine.

The's'hafts 1 and 3 are provided with cranks, b and c, of preciselyequal length with the crank d on the shaft of the supporting anddriving-wheel C. 4

Rotation in the same direction is given to the stil-rer, for so I callthe shaft 3 and its arms, and the ratchetwheels B B, by means of thepitmen D D', which are connected to the cranks b c at one of' their exdofthe driving-wheel G.

The mere connection of the crank d to the cranks b c by the two pitmen,would not edect the rotation of the stirrer nor the ratchet-wheels, norwould it prevent the stoppage of the same on the dead-points of thecranks, without some additional` mechanical provision to insure suchresult. N or would the plan of McClanahau, of pivoting the pitman D tothe pit,- man D at an intermediate point between the cranks d and c,effect these objects; for, under that arrangement, the stirreroscillates in a given arc, and does not rotate on its axis.

It is, therefore, necessary to interpose some agency which -will controlthe said pitmen, in such manner that, as the ends 'which are connectedwith the crank d are depressed in the rotation of said crank, theopposite end of each will be correspondingly elevated, and fvice tersa.

Hence, I x a thin wide, vertical platestandard,.E, securely to one ofthelongitudinal pieces of the frame of the machine, in which I make twoslots, one above the other, that are'cut a little longer than the strokeofthe several'crauks, and secure each of the said pit men to the saidstandard, by means' of a projecting pin, t', from the centre of whicheach respectively en ter and work in said-slots, and thereby establish aconnection, which holds the said pitmen, at their ccntres, in the planeof two lines drawn between the axis of crankd and the centres of shafts1 and 3, while freely allowing an up-and-down vibration of theirextremities, and the necessary endwise action or movement, which therotation of crank d compels them to make. In this Way I'insure myobject, and this is another and a very great improvement on McOlanahansmachine, for experience has demonstrated that an voscillatingstirrerwill not answer for cotton-seed tion, Idvance stilll furthertoward making the Inalchine a perfect one. I employ, substantially, thelsame kind of drill or trench-forming shoe, H, providedl with a largevertical opening, h, as a conduit for the seed to the ground, that isused in McClanahans inachine, but I reinforce the same by a curvedlfrontknife, j, which is. not done in McClanahans machine. I

make no claim, however, to said knife.

I totally discard all means for planting corn in the construction of myimproved machine, forI have found that itl-isirnpossible to Vcombine theessential features of a cotton-seed planter and of .a corn-planter inone andthe same machine, without` making the same, to

a great degree, inoperative and worthless.

In all other respects than herein specified, my improved machine is'substantially identical with Mc- Clanabans, and I need not,-the1;efore,further describe it. Its mode 'of operation is apparent from amereinspection, and hence it is only necessary further to say that,although the stirrer and the discharging ratchet- 4wheels B B revolve inthe saine direction, in conse- 1. rIhe connecting-rods I) D, when .bothare se;

cured to the crank d, the double-slotted standard E, pins c' t' in theconnecting-rods D D', in combination with the discharging-wheel B landstirrer 3, when all are connected and arranged as specified` 2. Incombination with the elements of the foregoing claim, the flukeG, as setforth. WV. F. TUNNARD.

' Witnesses:

RUFUs R. RHODES, H. N.,JENK1INS.

